关于建立应收账款管理方法方面的一些经验外文翻译.doc

外文翻译 原文 A Strategic Approach on Organizing Accounts Receivable Management: Some Empirical Evidence Material source: EBSCO search Author:Assel Bergh In this paper, the organizational behavior in managing accounts receivable is studied. It is based on the recent surge of interest in trade credit management from both academics and practitioners 1) the rather permanent character of these short-term but continuously renewed investments and 2) their strategic potential due to the existence of financial, tax-based, operating, transaction and pricing motives. The paper focuses on a search for sources of such a strategic value and for the determinants of its risk. More specifically this potential strategic value is said to create a need for flexibility and control in managing accounts receivable. It will therefore induce a need for internalization of its management. The resulting risks, however, favor its externalization. This results in a revision of the existing decision-making processes since, the extension of trade credit becoming a strategic asset, investments in accounts receivable cannot be judged by the financial needs incurred as measured by the traditional DSO-rate anymore. More specifically, a transaction cost theoretic approach is used to explain the decision whether or not to internalize the firm’s accounts receivable management and its risk, resulting in a set of hypotheses to be tested on a sample of both large and medium-sized Belgian companies. 1. Introduction Firms rarely require immediate payment for their merchandise. For example, in the UK corporate sector more than 80% of daily business transactions are on credit terms and accounts receivable constitute one of the main assets on corporate balance sheets (35% of total assets) (Summers and Wilson, 1997). As soon as trade debtors settle their accounts, cash flows into the company. At the same time, however, new sales generate new accounts receivable. The level of debtors thus remains constant whe